The World According to Mollie

Last night, Adrian and I read Mollie's 2nd grade journal from school.  I don't think I have laughed and cried so hard in a long time.  The entries were so sweet.  Her drawings were excellent.  She wrote about things she did on the weekends, about losing her dog Patches, about her family, and about her hopes and dreams.  It was inspiring to us to be able to get inside Mollie's head for a while.  She is so creative and funny.  Although, I must say we were a little bit embarrassed by some of the entries that her teacher probably read in school, such as "On the weekend I didn't do ennything.  I just watched a movie repetedly and played Zhu Zhu pets."  I wonder if her teacher thinks we are alcoholics who just let our precious daughter watch hours and hours of television.  How about  this one...

How You Can Show Your Respect by Mollie age 7
1. Keep hands and feet to your self.
2. Do not blert (blurt) out.
3. Do not tell someone a seacret (secret) in the middle of class.
4. Do not grab a hand full of marbles.

Rules That No One Cares About
1. Do not get out of your seat and shake your booty in front of the class.
2. Do not run around naked.
3. Do not run around in a beceni (bikini) drinking beer.
4. Do not get drunk in school.
5. Do not barf on some one.
6. Do not burp in some ones face.
7. Do not fart on some one.

And here are the reasons to follow the rules according to Mollie

Because if you tallk at appropiate times you will be able to lern and live a good life and if you don't you will not lern and if you don't lern you will not go to 3rd grade you will have to be held bak and when you finly get to 4th grade then 5th then 6th then a lot and get to middl school you will not go to colage and if you do not go to colage you will not get a job and if you do not get a job you will not get money and if you do not get money you won't get your needs you will be cold, hungry, wet, and unhappy and if your unhappy you will be sad.

Paches (Patches) by Mollie age 7 (This one made me cry)

Paches is my dog. She died. I miss her a lot. Before she had my family as a family another family did not like her one bit but paches is now ares (ours) still even thow (though) she is buryed in are back yard whith gorgus red flowers whith sinamin (Cinnamon) and Gigit. I feel like crying when I read this but it just won't come out.

(This one made me cry because I thought about my dad)

When I grow up I want to be a baby doctor so I can see lots of cute new borns and so I can help people and I'll enceroge (encourage) pecents (patients) if they have a seesection (C Section) and I'll be the nicest doctor so when I grow up you whold no longer call me Mollie. You whold call me Dr. Cutchshaw.

Here's her entry about her research project

I loved doing my research it was awsome. I lerned a lot about Jupiter and it is freezing cold on Jupiter and 1,000 Earths could fit in Jupiter. Jupiter is cool, fantastic, awsome, and amazing. It is the best planet in the world but Earth is a little better than Jupiter because if there was no Earth I wholdn't even egsist (exist) achuly (actually) no one whold egsist so Jupiter is my second favrit planet and Earth is my first favorit and I'd like to visit there once.

A Thanksgiving Story

Hello!  My name is Gobbles. I am a turkey and I am here to tell you about the story of when I almost got eaten by ten coo coo humans.  One day I wandered off in the woods and I saw three angry, hungry, and ugly hunters they saw me and tryed to shoot me but insted they got my friend meowy he's a mixed up turkey he says meow and he has 8 light pink wings. He was wered (weird) then a family saw me not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5. not 6. not 7, not 8, not 9 but 10 people were in the family so I jumped on 1 face at a time flapping my wings and then I would peck them till they cry and they never messed with me again.

A Christmas Story

If I could give a gift to the world I would give peace to the world, the best Christmas they could ever ask for, love, and forgiveness.  Merry Christmas world.

Twas the night befor Christmas and all throu the house not a creacher (creature)was stering (stirring) not even a mouse. The stocking were hung by the chemniny with care in hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

Wiley was all nestled all snug in her bed,
Rexy was sleeping in her cage whith a strawberry under her head.

Santa landed on the house whith a big bump,
Whitch gave my cat goosebumps.

He gave Wiley a real horse and me too,
Nicholas got a little train that said choo choo.

And Fischer (her big brother) was Noughty so he got poo poo.


If there was no gravity by Mollie age 7

If there was no gravity I whould be floting rite now. My house whould be floting. Even the computer and we could get on our baks and swim in the air!  It whouldn't be lame.  It whould be cool!  We whould run in the air, jump in the air, we whould even do backflips in the air.  If I was in the air I whould yell yippy yahoo yah!  I whould be swerling, and twerling, and I'd be doing loopty loops, sumer salts, cart wheels, and splits in the air.  I'd love it, just love it.

If I lived 100 years ago by Mollie age 7

If I lived 100 years ago I whold ride my bike to school and for lunch I whoold eat froots and vegies and I whood eat biscuts and I whood not stare at the t.v. for a long, long, long, long time like I do now and I whood not play whith my grandmas wii and play epic mickey.

Who I admire by Mollie age 7

I admire James from Big Time Rush cus he is hot he's funny and when he dosent sing he probleblee is very pulite and I admire him cus he is a singer and I also admire snooky cus she's famis. (famous)

This is why I love America. I dearly love my good friends and I think that the laws are grate and I think the word America is an awsome name of a place like this.

If I went to outer space by Mollie age 7

If I went to outer space I gess I whold go to the milky way, the iner planets, the outer planets, and the astroid belt. It whold be so cool, awsome, fabulas, and magnefusent but I whold whatch out for blackholes and I whold try to do the moon walk on the moon and whold bounce very high when I walk.

What I did this weekend by Mollie age 7

This weekend I didn't do any thing. I just cleaned up the bace ment, gave my gerble a grape, and wached t.v.

Veteran's Day by Mollie age 7

Veteran's Day means a lot to me beacas my grandpa died in the army when I was a baby and my unkle died in the army befor I was born (I think Mollie is a bit confused how Adrian's dad and brother died) and my dad survived the army and people in the army even the nurses for the army helped our country becus the Verterans fight for our country then some one gets hurt he goes to the nurse and the nurse helps him to fight so then he fights for our country they even die for us they are very enportant.

The Sparton By Mollie age 7

Spartons are cinedove (kind of) like knights.  Boys think they are cool. Some girls think they are cool too and my brother knows a lot about them. Ofcors (of course) he knows a lot. He's in 5th grade. Spartons have things on there helmets that look like a broom that some custodieons have.  They are so cool!

Weekend!!!  by Mollie age 7

On the weekend I just sat around waching songe bob.  I went to my grandmas house and I call her Susu and at Susu's house I saw my cuson (cousin) Hosford but I didn't see my baby cuson Prire (Pryor) hes mighty cute. O and did I menchen (mention) Susu's dog Gretchen was crazy about seeing me and I also played out side whith Hosford and Gretchen it was so much fun.

What I like to do at Recess by Mollie age 7

I like to sing, play shef (chef), Bad side and Good side!, sing, dance, sing and dance at the same time, slide, chase, tag, transformers, and play cool/ famis (famous)/ hot/ populer girls.

Oh, I just love this little girl.  Reading her school journal was so much fun.  I wish I had time to share all the entries.  They are so precious.  Reading her ideas reminds me not to let go of my own imagination.  And of course, it reminds me not to run around in a bikini drinking beer in school and not to fart on any one.

The Butterfly

Nearly eighteen years ago, I was holding a newborn baby in my arms, in total shock.  "Is this baby really mine?"  "What am I supposed to do?"  "I don't think I am qualified for this responsibility."  "What if I drop her?"  "What if I don't wake up when she cries, and she starves to death?"  "How do you dress this fragile little blob?" "She's so tiny, what if I break her?"

Luckily, my instincts kicked in, surprising me every day that I was actually capable of being a mother.  It was still daunting, though.  I was terrified every single day until she was about three years old, when I realized how resilient she was, and that she wasn't as breakable as she looked.

From the time she was three until she was about fourteen, I ignorantly believed I was the best mother on the planet.  By this time, I had brought in four more children into the world, and I pretty much felt confident that I knew what I was doing.  Mothering came naturally.  I loved rocking my babies, singing to them, reading to them, teaching them neat things like how to use a toilet, and the names of flowers and bugs.  I taught them to not talk to strangers at the same time teaching them to be tolerant and loving of everyone.  I helped them with school work.  I taught them to do their best.  Their successes became my own.  I truly felt that since they were so special and wonderful, that it must be because of ME.  Boy, did I have a lot to learn.  'Cause when you get on an ego trip like that, the universe typically gives you a lesson in humility.

My lesson came wrapped up in a beautiful teenager.  Let me tell you new mothers out there: be ware of this package.  Once you open this package, you will doubt everything you feel successful about as a mother.  This package comes with several challenging lessons.  It will test your ability to love unconditionally.  Isn't that horrible?  When you look at your child, you think you will always love them unconditionally, but that faith must be tested.  Because being critical, judgmental, non- understanding, and intolerant are not examples of unconditional love.  And I am sad to say that I became all of those things as a mother of a teenager.

The love affair you have with your child changes when they start to pull away from you.  And that's a teenager's job.  Their job is to emerge from your protective cocoon and begin stretching their wings.  It is a painful process.  All I wanted to do was to keep my baby in the cocoon, and all she wanted to do was to break away from it.  It was tough.  It made me sad.  Every mistake she made, I felt the need to correct.  Every time she had a new opinion about the world, I judged it.  Every time she wanted to try out her independence, I was not as understanding as I should have been.  Every time she had new feelings about herself, I became intolerant.  I invalidated her feelings constantly.  I couldn't help it.  It all blindsided me.  I thought I was going to be a cool mom to a teenager, but I wasn't.  At least not consistently.  Don't get me wrong, I had a few good moments in the mix, but overall, if I had a do over button, I would have put duct tape over my mouth more often.  I would have told her I was proud of her more often too.  

Thank God she really is resilient.  Because I look at her now, just a few weeks from graduating from high school, and I see a beautiful, loving, hard working, deeply spiritual young lady.  I see a young lady who is compassionate, loyal, smart, and kind.  And she became all these things on her own.  Certainly not because of me.  I am just really, really grateful I got a front seat to watch her emerge from the cocoon, because it is absolutely awesome watching those fragile, wet wings stretch into something strong enough to carry her as she flies away to new places. 

 Jolie Suzanne, you are a beautiful butterfly, and I am honored to be your mother.